“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”
- Albert Einstein
“When sin abounds, grace abounds even more”
- Romans 12:14
Sometime late last year, there were (extra-) massive morning jams on all roads leading Kuala Lumpur because the government decided to put police roadblocks on the day of earlier-mentioned Pakatan Rakyat events happening in the city. Police stopped and checked numerous cars for questionable items and in so doing caused bottlenecks all over.
But here’s the rub: The authorities did this as a reaction to PR plans. Conceivably the road blocks would NOT have occurred if Anwar & Gang didn’t declare they were going to have gatherings and such.
The bottom line here is that the problem of (unusually) heavy jams in the morning was suddenly a function of Anwar & Co.’s announcements, and for the sake of smooth traffic, Pakatan had to stop making announcements in such a way that the authorities acted to check cars. It is undeniable that more than a few pro-PR voters were hoping for a change of method.
BN had thus – unknowingly? uncaringly? – created an ‘automatic stabiliser’ to counter Pakatan’s plans. Unfortunately, the jams were not ‘productive’ at all and every KL-bound driver felt it.
How can these be turned against the government, in line with creative peace-making, reconciliatory protests and also socially benefiting ways? What actions be taken such that the moment BN tries does something questionable, wheels are set in motion in such a way to make BN itself wish they hadn’t done what they did, WITHOUT stressing out the people but in fact blesses them?
Some ideas to illustrate the point:
- for every week someone is in ISA, can a certain percentage of the populace reduce their use of electricity and/or office phones (and in some way ‘punish’ the government via lower revenues for Tenaga / Telekom?)…this may also be an act of suffering ‘on behalf of the prisoner’
- for every time a candlelight virgil is violently broken up, could more (dark-coloured?) flowers be bought and sent to Dato’ so-and-so or selected Cabinet Members? (could this be a gentle, non-sarcastic act of protest which would ALSO encourage more greenery AND make certain members of high-society slightly more uncomfortable with the, say, hundreds of flowers suddenly showing up on his doorstep?) furthermore, proceeds can go to charity funds – again this is a form of ‘suffering for the injustice in a way which benefits the unfortunate/under-privileged in society [a huge effect is that our protest is co-mingled with aid for the poor, so our attentions can never waiver into protests for protests' sake]
- for every illegitimate arrest made, can X amount of money be withdrawn from MayBank (or some other government-supported financial institution) and channeled to a pro-Pakatan NGO? or into a Tabung for the families of the imprisoned? Similar action can be applied to government-supported restaurants, tour companies, insurance companies, hotels, media, etc. [the point is that illegitimate action starts to beget self-damaging consequences for the ones in power]
- for every instance of brute-force, can 1 million “We-Forgive-You-Because-You-Can-Change” emails be spammed to all Members of Parliament? [this would be 'forceful' without being 'rude']
- for every Pakatan MP ousted draconianly (e.g. Gobind Singh), can we employ our global connections to ensure that all Malaysian embassies abroad receive something like the above?
Likewise, what can be done as gentle form of protest which in itself is fruitful? What about:
- “Recycle for Justice” programs? – so we don’t accumulate the garbage of consumerism even as we face the challenges of political trash?
- “Plant a Righteous Tree” projects? – when corruptions takes root, so does afforestation?
- “Feed the Hungry to Starve Oppression” campaigns? – so we never forget those for whom voting is a luxury?
- “Lights Off to Dim Corruption” initiatives? – in the spirit of Earth Hour?
The above represent new ‘rules of engagement’ to inspire an automatic form of protest which:
- everyone can participate in
- helps society as a whole
- send a clear (and discomfort-creating) message to the guilty ones.
- are in direct contrast to the government’s increasingly disturbing knee-jerk reactions to vigils and hunger strikes
To reiterate, the above in themselves serve as salt for the earth and aren’t MERELY acts of protest. Our protests would also be forced to consider other social problems and some (necessary?) prioritisation and balancing of issues may even take shape. When raising a spoon to the lips of the hungry replaces raising the fist to the oppressor, hearts (hopefully) change. Also, organisations like Malaysian Care and World Vision (or even WWF) can be easily roped in.
In the spirit of creativity, the point of the above is the generate alternatives within a fresh conceptual strand. This is to say that even if we reject the specifics of the ideas, we can still extract value from the model and bang out options we do appreciate.
Note that the above has to be consistent with the principle of creative peace-making and radical reconciliation. These ideas are a way of BOTH voicing our dissent towards political injustice AND blessing our communities WITHOUT making dissent the virtual be-all and end-all of our efforts.
When sin does its thing, grace does it even better.
